Improvement in bridge-piers



E. E. COLBY.

BRIDGE-PIER. Norm-9,020. Patented April 3, 1877.

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STATES ELLERY E. COLBY, OF GROTON, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHTTO OLIVER AVERY, CALEB BARTHOLOMEW, AND CHARLES PERRIGO.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRIDGE-PIERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 189,020, dated April 3,1877 application filed August 11, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLERY E. OoLBY, of Groton, in the county ofTompkins and State of New York, have invented a new and useful-Improvement in Bridge-Piers, which improvement is fully set forth in thefollowing specification, reference being bad to the accompanyingdrawings.

These piers are made of railroad-rails by driving a series of rails intothe ground to serve as piles, which are made to pass through a mudsill,and are capped over with another rail placed horizontally across thetops of the piles.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspectiveand durable stick of timber, orother suitable material, is embedded in the earth or located on thesurface, and through it holes are cut of such shape and size as toconform to the shape of the pile, while allowing the same to be easilyinserted, and through these holes the piles are driven into the earth.To regulate the depths to which the piles should be driven, as well asto prevent their settling, projections or stops are firmly attached tothe piles at the desired distance from their tops, which rest upon themudsill. Any kind of solid projection may be used which will answer thepurpose but the best, and the one shown in my drawing, indicated by O,is made as follows, to wit: ltconsists of two separate sections of castor wrought iron, each like the other, forming a semi-rectangular plate.These are so constructed that, when placed together, they form a plateof iron with an aperture corresponding in shape to those out through themudsill, and tightly fitting the form of the pile. Inside of theaperture of the stops, and

on each side, a small lug, a, projects, which fits into a notch cut intothe pile, and which prevents the stop, when fastened to the rail, frommoving. To fasten the stop to the pile, lateral holes extend through theends of each semi-section corresponding to each other,

through which iron bolts b are placed, and the semi-sections of the stopare fastened and tightened around the pile by nuts screwed onto the endsof the bolts.

Two or more piles running through the mudsill, being driven intotheearth, are capped as follows: The thin middle part or web of the top endofeach driven rail is cut out between the two projections, and anotherrail, with the showing the aperture for the pile.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the two semi-sections of the stop 0 detached.

Fig. 4. shows the broad or base projection of a driven pile passingthrough the stop, and the lugs a of the stop fitting into the notchescut into the driven pile.

The foregoing makes a very substantial pier to support bridges ortrestle-work.

In the construction of the mudsill I do not confine myself to a woodensill. Iron may be used instead. The sill may be made by banding orfastening together two railroad-rails, side by side, allowing the drivenpiles to pass between them.

I do not wish to limit myself to any particular form for astop-projection, 0. Instead of the one herein particularly described,any equivalent may be used, the essential point being that it shall bepermanently attached either to the mudsill or to the driven pile, so asto serve to prevent the pile from settling below a given mark.

A pier constructed in the foregoing manner of a single row of drivenpiles has great strength and solidity, sufiicient for ordinary bridges;but for larger and more elaborate structures, Where the strain andWeights to be borne are greater, the piers may be constructed eachhaving two or more parallel rows of piles running side by side. Themudsill serves a double purpose. It not only prevents the piles fromsettling, but also braces and strengthens them against lateral strains.The crowning-cap D also operates as a lateral brace by the manner inwhich it locks into the piles upon which ,it rests. Additional middlelateral braces to the piles or diagonal bracing may also be used, whendesired, to increase the rigidity where the distance is very greatbetween the crowning-cap and the mudsill or between.the piles.

In some instances it may be impracticable or not advisable to use themudsill connecting the piles, when a plate-disk, or other suitableprojection, O, firmly secured to the driven pile, may be used to resistits settling.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. Apier for bridge orother structures, formed of piles A made of railroad-rails andcross-pieces D, substantially as described.

2. The piles A of railroad-iron, in combination with the mudsill B,substantially as specified.

3. The combination, in a pier, of driven piles, with mudsill B, andstops 0 G, substantially as specified. t.

4. In a pier, the capor cross-piece D,formed of railroad-iron, incombination with a series of driven piles, substantially as specified.

ELLERY E. COLBY.

Witnesses:

Tnoms G. CoNNoLLY, WARREN I. COLLAMER.

